Tag: DIY

Now that we know flowers help attract bees, butterflies and birds; let’s get a bit more specific about what kind of flowers. We also discussed about single petaled flowers being better than the double petaled ones.

The next thing is to incorporate as many colors as possible. Its true that colorful flowers attract bees and butterflies more than the usual white flowers.

Also add as many different variety of flowers as possible. Fruit vegetables are a great option too.

Prefer both Bunch flowers like Ixora and Pentas as well as individual flowers like hibiscus.

I am often asked, what are the best vegetables to grow at home/balcony/terrace? Well, all!!

So how do you go about deciding which vegetables do you want to grow?

Firstly, always factor in your interest and preference!

Secondly, the season. There are many veges that grow throughout the year but there are also equal number of them who prefer a particular season!

Thirdly, consider the available space in your balcony/terrace.

Now comes the biggest challenge – You’ve a list of 10-15 veges which grow well in a particular season, you’ve enough space for them and you like them as well. So now how do you choose?

Always remember, if it is your first time, things may not workout exactly the way you want them to. So always go the conservative way. Imagine you can harvest a very little quantity everyday. So what would you do with it? I’ll illustrate.

What if you harvest just one cucumber? Nothing wrong with it as you can eat it right away or you can use it in a salad with few other veges.

Now, what if you harvest only 5-6 okra in a day and next ones would be ready for harvest only after a week. What would you do? All my south Indian readers are going – we will use in Sambar or in morkutaan!! 😉 😛 Well so if you can use a very little quantity of okra efficiently, go for it or else just reject it!

Similarly with beans – What if you harvested just 5-6 pods of french beans? You can probably use it in fried rice/vegetable pulav/Biryani.

But what if you harvest just 5-6 pods of broad beans or cluster beans? How would you use them? Well I don’t have an idea so I would reject such veges. But if you know how to use them, go for it!!

Now, before you decide to plant any particular vegetable, ask yourself, What would you do with an small harvest? Save yourself the pain of growing the veges and then not able to use them properly!! 🙂

It has been a huge concern for all the people staying in apartments/ flats/buildings – The water dripping from the pots! For those that are not worried about dripping .. it is about their Balcony and Terrace floor getting wet. I understand. But before I tell you some quick fix solutions, I want you to understand that the water that drains out, is excess water, which means you have been watering the plants in excess and you have to reduce the quantity of water.

Option 1: Use Trays – Very obvious I know but still many don’t use it.Option 2: Use self-watering Pots – With Self watering Pots, you just need to water the plants once in a week. (Between 4-10 days). Excess water is stored and does not leak/drip.Option 3:Use Bottles – I know I have spoken about it in my previous post but you can use this trick here as well. This one here is slightly different than yesterdays.

Option 4: Water them in intervals – Assume your plant needs 200 ml of water daily. So instead of watering it with 200 ml all at once, you can water 100 ml twice in a day or 70 ml thrice in a day. If this sounds very tedious, you can make use of drip irrigation as well.

Understanding the Water Requirements: Water requirements of plants depends on its size and the season. More water is required in Summer and very less in Monsoon. Also more the flowers and fruits, more the water requirement. Water holding capacity of the soil also makes a difference. Loam can hold more water than sandy soil. So all I want to tell you is observe the plants and soil while watering them. In a week or ten days, you’ll get a hang of it.

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Vertical Gardens are nothing but Gardens set up in a Vertical Space. The lack of space in Urban areas has pushed for the need of Vertical Gardens. Vertical Gardens can be seen as an effective tool to optimize the usage of available space. Vertical Gardens are meant for both Indoor and Outdoor Gardens. In this post, we will discuss about different ways in which you can set up a vertical garden at your place, plants that can be grown in vertical garden and a few pros & cons of vertical garden. We will be discussing in detail about Vertical Wall/Green Wall in another article.

There are many ways to make use of the vertical Space. A few examples are as follows:

You can attach it to the wall like these

You can place a vertical stand for the pots like these

I specially love the second idea of having a custom-made stand for your pots as it would give you a little more room for flexibility and movement along with a perfect look for your garden.

Coming to the plants, vertical gardens are meant for smaller plants. That does not mean we have to limit our options. There are innumerable flowering and non-flowering plants available (which are either small or dwarfed for) such type of gardens. Not to forget the Herb & Leafy Vegetables that you can have out here! Be careful with the placement of plants. If the lower racks are receiving less sunlight as compared to the upper racks, place your plants accordingly. Choose a mix of both shade-loving and Sunlight-loving plants.

You can get your stand designed from a carpenter or a Fabricator. Be careful about using wood for your stand. The stand may get wet/moist with the excess water that drains out of pots or because of rains, if you’re planning to place the stand outdoors.

Alternatively, you may also want to check out the wall hanging frames. Click on the link below to know more.

DISCLAIMER: SOME OF THE LINKS ON THIS WEBSITE ARE AFFILIATE LINKS, WHICH MEANS THAT I MAY EARN A COMMISSION IF YOU CLICK ON THE LINK OR MAKE A PURCHASE USING THE LINK. WHEN YOU MAKE A PURCHASE, THE PRICE YOU PAY WILL BE THE SAME WHETHER YOU USE THE AFFILIATE LINK OR GO DIRECTLY TO THE VENDOR’S WEBSITE USING A NON-AFFILIATE LINK. BY USING THE AFFILIATE LINKS, YOU ARE HELPING SUPPORT REEMAGARDEN.WORDPRESS.COM WEBSITE AND I GENUINELY APPRECIATE YOUR SUPPORT.THE OPINIONS EXPRESSED HERE ARE THOSE OF MYSELF AS AN INDIVIDUAL AND ARE NOT NECESSARILY THE OPINIONS OF NOR REFLECT THE VIEWS OF ANY MERCHANTS I AM AFFILIATED WITH. I HAVE CHOSEN TO ONLY RECOMMEND PRODUCTS ON REEMASGARDEN.WORDPRESS.COM THAT I USE OR HAVE THOROUGHLY RESEARCHED. ANY REFERRAL MONEY THAT I MIGHT GET PAID WILL NEVER INFLUENCE THE CONTENT, TOPICS, OR POSTS I MAKE.

Disclaimer: The images used in this post (including the Header Image) do not belong to reemasgarden.

If you’re wondering why do YOU need to pot the plant when the Maali (Gardener) can do it for you, click here.

So here’s how I pot my plant.

Disclaimer: There is no right or wrong way to do it. I am expounding a few methods which have worked extremely well for me.

Scenario #1: Planting in Big Pots For Flowering & Fruiting Plants

Pots of Size 6″ and above. By 6″ I mean that the height of the pot is 6″ or more.

Adding both the compost ensures adequate supply of nutrients to combat the ill effects of chemical fertilizers added by the plant sellers.

Scenario #2: Planting in Big Pots For Non Flowering Plants

If you’re planting non-flowering plants like Palm or money plant, you can fill your pot using any soil and dry cow-dung manure/vermi-compost in a ratio of 1:1.

Scenario #3: Planting in Small Pots For Flowering Plants

If you’re potting small plants that require containers smaller than 6″ I would suggest using only organic compost to pot the plant. No Soil at all. (The plant that you purchase will have enough of soil in it. So utilize the remaining space in the pot for adding compost)

Scenario #4: Planting in Small Pots For Non Flowering Plants

Here, you can use vermi-compost and soil in the ratio 1:1 to pot the plant.

Scenario #5: Sowing Seeds in Big Pots

This scenario refers to your vegetable garden. Here you have to prepare your vegetable bed/planters/Containers in the same way as mentioned in Scenario #1. The only difference is, when you’re filling your top 25%, use vermi-compost and soil in the ratio 1:1.

Scenario #6: Sowing Seeds in small Pots

If it is a flowering plant, fill the pot with organic compost and soil in the ratio 1:1

If it is non-flowering plant, like your herbs and leafy vegetables, fill the pot/container with vermi-compost and soil in the ratio 1:1

Where to get the Compost

As far as cow-dung manure is concerned, I would suggest you source it from your local Dairy farm (Tabela). It is one of the cheapest and best manure for plants. To know more about Cow-dung manure click here.

You can prepare your Organic compost at home. Click here to know how to prepare your compost at home.

Alternatively, You might also want to check out the ready to use potting mix available! Click on the images to know more!

DISCLAIMER: SOME OF THE LINKS ON THIS WEBSITE ARE AFFILIATE LINKS, WHICH MEANS THAT I MAY EARN A COMMISSION IF YOU CLICK ON THE LINK OR MAKE A PURCHASE USING THE LINK. WHEN YOU MAKE A PURCHASE, THE PRICE YOU PAY WILL BE THE SAME WHETHER YOU USE THE AFFILIATE LINK OR GO DIRECTLY TO THE VENDOR’S WEBSITE USING A NON-AFFILIATE LINK. BY USING THE AFFILIATE LINKS, YOU ARE HELPING SUPPORT REEMASGARDEN.WORDPRESS.COM WEBSITE AND I GENUINELY APPRECIATE YOUR SUPPORT.THE OPINIONS EXPRESSED HERE ARE THOSE OF MYSELF AS AN INDIVIDUAL AND ARE NOT NECESSARILY THE OPINIONS OF NOR REFLECT THE VIEWS OF ANY MERCHANTS I AM AFFILIATED WITH. I HAVE CHOSEN TO ONLY RECOMMEND PRODUCTS ON REEMASGARDEN.WORDPRESS.COM THAT I USE OR HAVE THOROUGHLY RESEARCHED. ANY REFERRAL MONEY THAT I MIGHT GET PAID WILL NEVER INFLUENCE THE CONTENT, TOPICS, OR POSTS I MAKE.

Before creating a Garden, it is very essential that we ask ourselves, what type of Garden do we want? A lot of time things go wrong only because we do not have a definite idea as to which type of Garden we are about to set up.

To decide which type of Garden you want to set up, you’ll have to take into consideration the following aspects:

Your likes and preferences

Area available for Gardening

Climate and Season

Availability of Sunlight

Amount of time you are willing to dedicate for Maintenance

A type of Garden is important because it tells us:

Which type of plants we will be planting

Which type of containers will we require to grow these plants

A few examples of different types of Garden are:

Aesthetic Garden

Kitchen/Vegetable Garden

Medicinal Garden

Perennial flowering Garden

Seasonal flowering Garden

Indoor Garden

Nocturnal Garden

Every type has further sub-types to it. For example, you decide to set up a vegetable garden. The next question is which type of vegetable garden?

Is it going to be leafy vegetables like spinach, fenugreek, Dill, etc or

Are you going to set up stem and root veges like potato, onion, radish, carrot, etc or

Will you be having Climbers and Creepers like gourds and peas or

All of them.

So the point I am trying to make is, You should have a definite idea as to which Garden are you setting up!

Once you have decided on this, we can go our next segment, i.e Garden Arena!

If you need any help on deciding the type of Your Garden, contact me here.

Coming Up a 11-Day D-I-Y Series starting 21st July 2017 where we Create, Upgrade, Modify, Design and Redesign Your Garden!!

How Does it Work?

I’ll have a series of Blog Post (1 post a day) where we step by step set up your Garden!

Right from selecting a place to selecting right kind of plants; from Garden Decor right till designing we will be covering everything!

The best thing about this fest, I’ll be available all throughout those 11 days right here and on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Google plus for any help or suggestion that you’ll need! We can have live interactive session through Skype and Facebook Video Calls!

I know its not the right season to sow potatoes but this post aims to make you ready well before the season arrives! 🙂

Growing potatoes is pretty different from growing an eggplant or a tomato! So here’s how we do it!

Step 1: Select the potatoes with shoots!

Step 2: You can use the whole of a potato or just cut the portion of the potato with shoot and use it.

Step 3: Fill the soil(mixed with compost) in a bag. There are many Planting Bags or Grow Bags available. If you don’t wish to purchase one, use a gunny sack or a big cloth/plastic bag! There are many advantages of using a bag instead of a container to grow potatoes. The most important one being ease of harvesting. However if you’re not comfortable you can choose to grow your potatoes in a container. Just ensure that the container or pot is big enough.

Grow Bag

Cloth Bag

Gunny Sack

Step 4: Plant the potato with shoots in the bag.

Step 5: Now just regularly water the plant and enjoy them growing

Step 6: Potatoes have very beautiful leaves and act as a great decor

Step 7: Have a look at the flowers!

Step 8: Potatoes take from 8 weeks to 14 weeks to grow. You can dig in slightly to find out how well they are growing!

Step 9: Harvest it! Just pick up the bag and empty it! Take out all your potatoes! Many people like small potatoes so they harvest them a bit early. For those of you who like big potatoes harvest them only when they have fully grown!

Note: For all my friends in India: Start around mid-November! You’ll know it instinctively as all the potatoes in basket will start developing shoots! 🙂

Idea Number 5: Use some old buckets or paint buckets! I know this is the most common idea. But it is one of the best ideas as well.

This Photo does not belong to Reemasgarden.

Idea Number 4: Plastic Bottles: Don’t underestimate the power of a plastic bottle. It is one of the most important tools in gardening! You can cut open a plastic bottle as shown in the picture below and use it for growing anything ranging from Coriander to spinach to fenugreek and many more. The pictures would give you a better idea! I’ll soon be coming up with an entire article dedicated to the plastic bottles!

Cut Open the bottles from the center as shown in the picture. Create small holes underneath for outflow of excess water.I had planted coriander! Click here to view an article on how to grow coriander!

Idea Number 3: Use any container/tiffin box from your kitchen! Yes our kitchen has too many plastic containers that are either old or slightly cracked. Instead of disposing them use them as pots!

This was a plastic box in which we got our ice-cream. So Instead of disposing it, I chose to use it in my garden for small plants.

Idea Number 2: Use a cardboard box! Our house is loaded with cardboard cartons. Just give them a plastic coating from inside and use them. Yes I can hear you asking “Will it hold? Will stay in the long run?” The answer is “NO! It wont stay in the long run. But it will stay long enough for you to experiment and know whether you’re liking gardening! Once you know you’re good at it and you’re enjoying the process there is no harm in making some capital investment in form of pots and containers!!

I had this huge cardboard box so I just covered with plastic from inside and voila!! I had my raised bed ready! Free of cost. This box contained 9 eggplants. Just be careful about one thing when you’re using a cardboard box. Don’t relocate it. Just let it stay fixed in a place. Lifting it or moving it may cause damage to the box as it is just a cardboard!You can similarly use a shoe box!

When you place the lid under the box, it makes the box even stronger and if the height of the box is six inches you can plant any plant. If shorter than 6 inches, choose a smaller plant.

Idea Number 1: Use the existing Containers effectively! The following are the pots that contain rose plants. I used them to grow fenugreek and even Okra! You can experiment with more plants!!

Fenugreek plant in a rose pot

Fenugreek plant in a rose pot

Fenugreek plant in a rose pot

Okra in a rose pot! Click here to know how to grow an Okra in your Balcony!